Improvement in railway-bridge signal apparatus



T. S. HALL- Draw Bridge Signal.

Patented April 4, 1871.

. THOMAS S. HALL, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-BRIDGE SIGNAL APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 113,425, dated April 4,1871.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS S. HALL, of NewHaven, in the county of New Haven and Stateof Connecticut, haveinventeda new and useful Improvement in Draw-Bridge Signals; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part ofthis specification, in which drawing--' Figure 1 1s a plan View of myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken in the line 00 m of Fig. 1,showing the draw closed. Fig. 3 is a' cross-section taken in the line yy of Fig. 1, the draw being supposed to be open and the signaldisplayed.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to safety apparatus for draw-bridges and consistsin the combination of parts, whereby when the draw is locked the signalapparatus is also looked and prevented from being operated or exposed toview, and when the draw is open the signal apparatus is at the same timeautomatically released and the signal displayed, as will i behereinafter more fully described.

In this example of my invention I have shown it applied to a railwaydraw-bridge and in connection with a visible signal; but my invention isalso applicable to draws for ordinary roadways.

The letter A designates one end of a draw, which turns on a center, B;and C is one of the stationary ends.

The rails of the track are placed on the drawbridge in the ordinarymanner, so that the ends of the rails D of the draw can swing over andbe supported on the same chair E which supports the outer end of therail F on the stationary part of the bridge, one side of said chairbeing cut away to allow the rail on the draw to be swung in and out overthe chair, while the other side of the chair, at G, forms a stop toarrest such rail when it comes in line with the stationary rail F.

The draw is locked by a sliding key, U, fitted to the web or curved sideof the rails, and is supported on rail F by the chair E and bracket H,in such a manner that .it can be moved to and fro alongsideof rail D tolock and unlock or of the smoke-stack of a locomotive.

the draw at pleasure. The key is moved by means of a crank, I, to whoseend is pivoted one end of a link, J, whose other end turns on a pinprojecting from the inner end of the key, the shaft of crank I havingits'bearings in a standard, L, and being provided with a handcrank, K,by which it is operated to move the key. A portion of the key is cutaway, as seen .at M, to bring the signal into action, as will behereinafter explained.

The draw-signal is intended to be brought into action or displayed whenthe draw is open. In this illustration the signal consists of a drop, N,suspended on a rope or chain, 0, from the top of a frame, V, which Iplace at a distance from the bridge-say, a distance of fifteen hundredto two thousand feetsufficient to insure safety to an approaching train.I arrange the signal in such a manner that when down it will be in theway of a train or vehicle signal here shown has a central opening tocontain a lamp for night use.

The signal moves in a slot made for it in a cross-beam of the frame V,and is prevented from passing through the slot by means of ears T T,which come in contact with the top of the beam andpreserve the rope frombein g snapped by the fall of the signal.

The rope or chain 0 extends from the signal over pulleys P P P, arrangedin such a manner as to bring the rope in line with a drum, Q, on whichit is wound for the purpose of raising the signal out of sight.

The drum Q is placed on the stationary part of the bridge adjacent tothe key, with its shaft at right angles thereto, one end of its shaftbeing extended toward the rail I*, and being flattened, as at B, so thatits flattened surface can reach under or past the key, and in closeproximity thereto, by which meansthedrum-shaftbecomeslockedandisprevented from turning.

The locking of the drum-shaft takes place whenever its flattened surfaceor side R is turned toward the key and the key is moved outward to lockthe draw, at which time the slotted or reduced part M of the keywillhave passed over and beyond the flattened surface R of the drum-shaft,and the wider portion of the key will have been moved The above or nextto the drum-shaft, so as to lock the shaft, the end or place of the cutor slot M being located the same distance from the end of the key, ornearly so, as the distance from the drum-shaft to the end of thedrawrail 1), so that whenever the key releases the draw the key will atthe same time release the drum-shaft. Whenever such release ordisengagement takes place the drum-shaft is free to turn, and the signalN, which in this example serves as a weight, turns the shaft and unwindsthe rope or chain, and the signal drops to the full extent allowed byits stops or by the rope.

""Whenev'er it is desired to relock the draw the drum-shaft is turned bymeans of its handwheelS until the signal is elevated, and the shaft isagain in position to be engaged bv the key, and the key is then pushedoutward, thereby at the same time looking the draw and lockin g thedrum-shaft and the signal or alarm.

It will be observed that by my invention the signal is set or put inaction automatically by the act of unlocking the draw, and consequentlythe setting or bringing into action of the signal does not depend uponthe attention of the draw-keeper, and the key or fastening of the drawretains the signal out of action so long as the key engages and locksthe draw.

I do not wish to confine myself to the de tails here shown, as thesignal apparatus can be connected with the key by other means as forexample, by means of a gear-wheel on the drum-shaft, which shall beengaged by a rack formed on the key, and so arranged that the movementof the key in or out will bring the signal into or out of action, inthat case dispensing with an independent crank for moving the key, asthe same crank or wheel which turns the drum moves the key.

Accidents are now common or liable to occur Where, as isnow the case,the setting of a signal depends upon the draw-keeper at the time ofopening the draw; but by means of my invention the signal apparatus isbrought into action automatically, and safety is not dependent upon hiscarefulness or attention to duty.

It is obvious that this automatic apparatus can be arranged at both endsof a draw, so as to produce an alarm ormake a signal at both approachesof a bridge.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The draw-bridge key U, having a slotted or reduced part, as setforth, in combination with the flattened shaft of the drum Q, to

of December, 1870.

THOMAS S. HALL. Witnesses:

J. VAN SANTVOORD, G. WAHLERS.

